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Thursday, July 24, 2014

What is my love language you ask? Why, food of course! If you give me anything scrumptious, particularly fried or sweet, I will instantly be your BFF. Needless to say Keith and I quickly became BFFs with Princess Cruises around a month ago thanks to the never ending delicious pizza bar, desserts, and coffee. (oh and the awesome trip to Alaska) On our way back to Texas, we stopped in Seattle and what else were we to do but eat at all of the recommended restaurants we could fit in a 72 hour period....oops.

So this is how the Advocare 24 day challenge came to be.

As Cross Canadian Ragweed once sang, we were "sick and tired of being sick and tired." We talked about "getting healthy" when we returned from our trip and it was at that time that our sweet friend Shayna posted her 24 day challenge success photos. What intrigued us most was that this mother of two young kids was able to cut out coffee (multiple cups a day) and had even more energy now than she did with the coffee! Keith teaches 2nd grade and I just finished grad school. We LIVED survived off of coffee during the school year and yet we still had no energy. We had a strong desire to get healthy and take care of our bodies and so we started the 24 day challenge.

I will post soon about our meal plan and how we ate healthy(ish) on our week long vacation. The nerd in me really helped out because I researched and planned so many meals before we received our box of Advocare goodies. Shayna recommended that I became familiar with the challenge guidelines before it came so I wouldn't be so overwhelmed. That was such a great tip and I would recommend that to anyone planning to do the challenge. It was good to know what foods were encouraged vs which were allowed in moderation BEFORE we started so that I could stock up on the good foods.

Throughout the challenge I found myself craving less and less of the bad fats and sweets. Natural peanut butter with a few sneaky chocolate chips became my guilty pleasure. I no longer drink coffee and don't get any headaches from not drinking it. In the last 24 days I have not fallen asleep in a movie and that is a huge victory! All in all I feel like a healthier person with loads of energy!!!

It's amazing what you can do with the right nutrition, healthy eating, and working out 3x/week.

I am thankful for this challenge because it taught me tons about discipline and God's call for us to take care of our bodies. I realize that when I take care of my body I have more energy to spend serving Him. Thank you Shayna for your encouragement throughout this challenge! Keith and I truly appreciate you!!!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Woohoooooo! I finally made it. (Well in May, as I am a tad bit late in writing this post...meh) I began my journey of obtaining my master's in speech and language pathology three years ago and can't believe I have finally graduated! What started as a "full-time" two-year adventure turned into a "part-time" three-year adventure. I use the quotation marks because those of you that know the program at the University of Houston know that "part-time" still exceeds the requirements to be considered full-time and "full-time" really means every minute of your life. Half-way through my first semester I decided to go part-time in order to spend more time at home with Keith since we had JUST gotten married. It was a very difficult decision to make, but looking back I see how God used His plans for my good.

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God; those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

God's plan allowed me to make friends from two different graduating classes, gave me great externship placements, and blessed me with a fellowship and a supervisor that made such an impact on me. His plan allowed me and Keith to become directors of our Sunday school class, spend time with friends and family.

These three years included many projects, tears, research papers galore, buckets of tears, great clients, happy tears, and a particular client that punched me in the nose, which of course ensued more tears. I learned about diseases, disorders, and differences, but learned even more about caring for people. In August I will begin my adventure working with children with speech and language disorders! Dream come true :)

I am thankful for Keith's family who understood when I needed to lock myself in the back room at Bill and Mema's to work on projects. You never once complained about my anti-socialness when I had to study for my board exam instead of hanging out. I'm thankful for my family who understood when I had to turn them down in order to study. Instead I had family who encouraged me through all of the difficult times and continually prayed for me. Without your love and understanding I would not have made it through graduate school!